Texas Tech basketball: The top 25 Red Raiders in the Big 12 era

No.9:  John Roberson

We just talked about Norense Odiase and how his stats didn’t quite tell the whole story of his importance to Tech basketball.  On the complete opposite end of that spectrum is where we would find point guard John Roberson, who had one of the best statistical careers in Tech history but who never really contributed to a winning culture in Lubbock.

In fairness, Roberson wasn’t to blame for Tech’s struggles from 2007-08 to 2010-11.  The lion’s share of that falls at the feet of then-head coach Pat Knight, who was in over his head as a first-time head coach.

Roberson did all he could to lift the program to relevance during his career but it just wasn’t ever enough.  He never could get Tech to the NCAA Tournament and only once (2010), did he appear in the NIT.

But from a statistical standpoint, you can’t find much blame in the Plano native’s career.  He is no. 7 all-time in Tech history with 1,772 points and he is the program leader in assists with 636, almost 200 more than any other player to ever represent the Double T.

Roberson was remarkably steady throughout his career (though his penchant for wild turnovers made him a bit unsteady during games).  He averaged between 12.3 and 14.6 points per game all four years of his career.

He did quite a bit of work from deep as he is the school record-holder with 274 career made 3-pointers.  Also, he was a frequent visitor to the free-throw line as his 195 career made free throws in Big 12 play rank 6th in Tech history.

But the team success just never came Roberson’s way and that keeps him from being any higher up on this list.  Though it wasn’t all his fault that his teams never finished higher than 7th in the Big 12, the fact that this is a team game means that he shares some of that responsibility and that’s why he’s just at No. 9 on this list despite putting up a ton of stats during his time as a Red Raider.